Believing Prophets

 The prophet and apostles are not telling the public one thing while believing another privately. 

I want that to be a statement.

Because I believe and have faith in leadership with access to revelation bearing authority. They either say what they mean or anything they say is meaningless.

God does not deliver his message through deception. He delivers it through truth. It’s clear. He does not double speak or use secret combinations.

Your struggle with accepting doctrine does not mean the prophet or apostle has fallen. You will struggle with principles, doctrine, and dogma as a member of any faith. 

Now that’s some pretty harsh language out of the gate for me but I had to be clear. 

I say this because people I have looked up to in the church have of late told me that leaders are not backing the policies or statements of the church. That they are caving to political pressure, or that they (church leadership) have a public or private narrative. Worse they say the church and the brethren have fallen. 

There have been some statements made by apostles, policies affirmed and held by the church at large, or changes to handbooks as of late that have caused disconcerting emotions among some members. I think we can have a rational, reasonable conversation about that.

Being a member of church, sometimes there are confirmations of beliefs we have. A position we hold gets taken or expressed by the church. That feels great. But sometimes the inverse happens and a position we hold is countered or contradicted by church policy. That’s harder to deal with. That’s harder to reconcile. 

I struggle to accept everything said by every apostle of prophet as gospel. That’s the truth I am human. I'm the first to admit that. I hope that's clear here. I don't mean to be the person to pass judgement, but I think we need to think about what it means to believe a prophet.

In October I sustained men as prophets, seers, and revelators. It's a cornerstone of our faith. The fact there is continuing revelation and guidance for both the church and the world. I believe in their words. Emphatically. It's not easy for me to do. It requires active faith. And it gets challenged. I think for two reasons.

The first. The church requires constant correction. That also extends past the membership. Leaders require correction at time as they are men. But said correction over the Lord’s church is rare but happens with absolute clarity. We are not left in an ambiguous state if correction occurs. See Jonah, Peter, Saul, David, Joseph Smith and a missing manuscript. People fall, are corrected, and we fix course.

The second is more challenging in the contemporary. Now politics seems to be a problem. We like to believe that our tribe is righteous. That we are on the right side of history and decision making. We need to remember something. Our political figures are meant to represent us, the prophet is meant to represent the lord. The statements and the positions of politicians and political parties will never fully overlap. We have to decide which one we place first.

Now some statements and positions that are hard for me to reconcile, accept, and understand involve the church's stances on gay marriage and the position and acceptance of our LGBT brothers and sisters. The idea of polygamy at all being accepted is difficult for me. The fact that blacks had to be given the priesthood late bothers me uncontrollably. But I believe if the brethren have given us the guidance they have it's for a reason. And hopefully in time more truth will unfold. It's my job now to sustain the men delivering the message and believe them.

If they have a decades long policy of opposing family separation in immigration enforcement, and opposing mass deportation, I should believe them.

If they say black lives matter, that racism is still a problem then I should believe them.

If they congratulate the winner of an election we should too.

If they support immunizations, believe them.

If they say something, anything, especially if you don't like it, believe them. They said it for a reason.

Faith is in part about accept hard truths, and not having the complete vision. That's our lot in life. We can't see the whole picture in mortality.

But we can look at a watchmen, on a tower, who sees a bit more and listen. If we sustain them, we choose to believe them, follow them.

I've sustained these men and that's what I intend to do.